Musings
by sylvanius
Summary: A collection of Drabbles based on the prompts of the Tamora Pierce Drabbled livejournal community. D/N. Disclaimer: Not mine.
1. Tabula Rasa

_**This is a collection of drabbles inspired by the prompts of the Tamora Pierce Drabbles Livejournal community. Each chapter will use one of the prompts as the basis for a short drabble. Drabbled are usually less than 100 words (I think) but i've extended the word length for some because well..writing under 100 words is very very hard. Anyway, enjoy! (This fic is going to kill my word count average :( )  
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#45 Tabula Rasa

Numair closed his eyes and breathed in the scent of the woman pressed between him and the wall. She smelled of perfumes and soap, not trace of earth or musk. Soft, delicate, hands slid around his neck as he deepened the kiss and he slid his own through her smooth, perfectly tamed, hair. He pulled her more firmly against his own body, hearing the rustle of skirts, and tried in vain to wash away the feelings that had plagued him since midwinter. Despite his efforts he still saw blue eyes and callused hands when he closed his eyes so he kissed the woman even more deeply, pushing her hard up against the stone. _Forget, forget, wash it all away._


	2. Choice

#60 Choice

Normally she wouldn't have put much thought into it but that day Daine had spent hours trying to decide what dress to wear to the midwinter ball. She had changed between her pale blue and lilac gowns over and over again; trying to choose the one that made her look better, more adult, ravishing, anything. She had finally decided on the blue gown, hoping that the clerk would like it. She never saw the clerk that night but the smile on Numair's face told her that she had made the right decision.


	3. The Beginning

#1 The beginning

It seemed as though they had known each other forever. They joked, conversed, fought and lived in nearly perfect unison. They knew almost every little quirk, nuance, habit and flaw of the other. That's why Daine couldn't understand why Numair was so hesitant to be lovers. Wasn't it just a continuation of their friendship? The natural next step? It wasn't until the first night that he took her to his bed that she really realized that something entirely new was beginning.


	4. Dreams

#43 Dreams

Numair sat and stared at Temptation Lake as Daine prepared for bed wondering what kind of cruel joke created the place. How many before had succumbed to it whether willingly or not? Strange things to be thinking at such a time, funny how you can be fighting for your life and still have the energy to ponder such matters. He was startled out of his reverie and Daine rested her hand on his shoulder, wishing him a good night before slipping into her bedroll. He shivered and blushed as her hand slid across his shoulder and imagined how those hands would feel on him in his dreams that night. No, he needed no more temptation.


	5. Lessons

#41 Lessons

In truth he had ran out of things to teach her years ago. He still, however, insisted on daily lessons. They now consisted of pretty much anything. They would stargaze and he would tell her about he constellations or they would walk through the woods. He remembered one particular 'lesson' where they had spent the entire afternoon scaring pages by any, and progressively worse, means possible. He knew that she knew he had nothing more to teach her for her magic but she never complained.


	6. What Did You Say?

**Ok little note...a lot of these drabbles are kind of made to fit into the original story line...but not all of them, like this one, will. In this case it's an AU where they never got together in RotG.**

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#57 "What did you say?"

"What did you say?" Daine asked, looking up at him in shock, and Numair's mind reeled. They were standing behind a pair of great oak doors; waiting to be presented to the court in the ball celebrating the victory in the immortals war. They were heroes now after all. They had been talking and joking lightly, he remembered commenting on how pretty she looked and they had joked some more. What had he said? He swallowed, trying to control himself. She had said something and he had laughed and said '_gods I love you'_ without even meaning to. He opened his mouth, suddenly dry, as she continued to stare at him but before he could speak music blared and the great oak doors creaked open and they were ushered swiftly out to greet the entire court.


	7. Not My Responsibility

#11 Not My Responsibility

He gritted his teeth as he watched the clerk steal her away into the gardens. There was a war going on, surely everyone had better things to be doing? Not that he should really be talking. Who was that clerk anyway? He made a mental note of the boys appearance and vowed to find a name. Suddenly Daine reappeared and Numair's heart jumped, had she left the boy? It sank again as he realized that she was leading the clerk by the hand and they soon disappeared again. Where was she leading him? He stomach twisted at the thought of them heading back to her rooms. He stared at the empty garden for a few more moments before taking a deep breathe; this wasn't right. He shouldn't be spying on her. Another voice interrupted; _what if he hurt her? _Numair clenched his fists before releasing them and taking a deep breath. She was a woman now; not his responsibility.


	8. Love, Not Actually

**Sorry I had to re-post this because half of it didn't get posted for some reason....**

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#4 Love, not actually

Numair's heart felt as though it had stopped and he asked her to repeat what she had last said. Gods above had she really told him that she loved the boy? She laughed in return and the sound, usually so sweet to him, felt as though it were tearing through him.

"Well, not actually _love_ love." She said, still giggling. "Friend love, y'know? I mean, It's Evin." She made a slight face but he didn't ask why, nor was he in the mood to correct her grammar. Slowly the tension inside him faded but questions still remained.

"Not Evin then?" He asked slowly, making sure.

"No, I'll just leave him to Miri." She laughed again; her comment invoking curiosity in him but he ignored it.

"No one then?" He said, relishing and fearing the answer all at once. She shot him a curious look and giggled a little.

"No, I think I'm a bit young for all that nonsense." He ignored the brush off and continued.

"Love is anything but nonsense magelet." She looked at him, her eyes piercing, and he realized what dangerous grounds he had brought their conversation to. Clearing his throat he changed the subject. "So Miri and Evin?"


	9. Pet Names

#55 Pet Names

At first the name magelet had irked her but it wasn't long before it began to grow on her. Before she knew it she cherished the nickname and the way he said it; it only belonged to them. She couldn't remember when this switch had occurred; when she came to love it. She could however remember _vividly_ his face when she let 'stork-man' slip.


	10. Realization

#80 Realization

He knew when he had _realized_ that he was in love with her, that early morning when the barrier had broken. What he didn't know is when he really _had_ fallen in love with her. There was no memory he could call upon that could give him a specific moment. He wondered if maybe he had always loved her. Thinking back he remembered one afternoon when he had gone to her rooms when she had been late for lessons. When he got there he found out that it was the first anniversary of her mother's death. He had curled up on the bed with her and held her as she cried. Thinking back he thinks that that might have been the moment when he first started falling in love.


	11. Missing

**This one will be a bit different than the others ..hope you like it  
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**Disclaimer: Not mine**

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#34 Missing

"Have they returned yet?" The redhead asked Onua as she helped her prepare her mount and she shook her head.

"Soon hopefully, they didn't have to go that far." She said, the exhaustion and constant worry of war long set in. A couple moments later the sound of hoof beats approached the stable, fast, and with her well-trained ear she guessed that there were two. "Maybe that's them now." She said, moving quickly to the stable entrance.

"Oh gods." The whisper left her mouth and she broke into a desperate run towards the rider-less steeds. "Alanna, come quick!"

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**Review please!**

**I hope it was obvious what was going on....I know it was kind of vague but I didn't want to add exposition..in case you didn't figure it out it was the day that Numair and Daine went to fight the skinners...and to their friends seemed to have gone missing during battle....  
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	12. The Morning After

#33 The Morning After

She found solace in the fact that even if she couldn't always speak to them that her parents were literally watching over her. She knew she was loved and that they were watching out for her in the way that they could and it was nice to know that she had not been completely abandoned. Her lover on the other hand never really considered the fact that her parents could literally _watch over her_ until the morning after the first time he bedded her. He was extremely careful of hunters these days.


	13. You Are Your Parents Child

#85 you are your mother's daughter/father's son/parent's child

He would always remember the first time he commented on the resemblance between her and her father. He had meant it as nothing more than a casual observation but her eyes had widened and her hands had flew up to her hair, checking for horns. It took him so long to stop laughing that she had walked away by the time he stopped.


	14. Bodily Functions

#89 Bodily Functions

He had finally had to admit to Alanna that she was right when she had said that Daine needed other females around. He also had to admit that he was not capable of handling any situation. This had all occurred rather quickly when he had frantically contacted the lioness via speaking spell and told her to come to the tower immediately. Storming he could handle. Shape-shifting was a walk in the park. Krakens? No problem. A girl becoming a woman however, with that he was entirely out of his depth.


	15. Instinct

#9 Instinct

She had always been instinctual; it came with the animal territory. So many things had come naturally to her despite her protests that her success was due solely to practice. Archery, hunting, even her magic she had grasped quickly and with an ease that had shocked him. Now as she slid her hands under his shirt to tease the skin at his waist and nibbled on his ear in an absolutely sinful way he realized he had one more thing to add to the list.


	16. Fast Forward

#5 Fast Forward

It was unbelievable to think that just five years ago she had been a shy country bred girl who had never even heard of Carthak. It had been only four years ago that he had laughed of the very thought of taking her as his own, the idea ridiculous to him. He would have laughed himself breathless if anyone had told him back then that at this very moment he would be holding her, the hero of Tortall and demi-goddess, in his arms as the morning light sifted through the window and he contemplated how to ask for her hand in marriage once again.


	17. For the Kingdom

#12 For the Kingdom

He had been in the service of the kingdom for years and over that time he had become undeniably devoted to it. No price was too high to pay for the land that had given him new life. His time, his magic, his life; none would be too much to give. Her life however; now that would be far too great a price to ask.


	18. Occupational Hazard

#30 Occupational Hazard

He could tell that we had been slightly surprised to see that Alanna had not been joking about the state of his tower since he had fired his last housekeeper. He had noticed that she seemed less than pleased at the noise his experiments made at three in the morning. However, it wasn't until a lotion he had left lying around had turned her hands blue for a week did he realize that he had never really given her sufficient warning as to what his being a mage really entailed.


	19. Restraint

#29 Restraint

Truth be told his passion had surprised her. She was a wild thing after all and she had always thought that he would be rather polite when it came to the more private aspects of their relationship; all gentle and soft. He did have his prudish moments; in public he was always very strict when it came to keeping their affectionate displays to a minimum, nothing more than holding hands or a swift chaste kiss. There was a time and a place with him; he would often chastise her for trying to distract him when they were supposed to be somewhere else. That did not mean however that he wouldn't have her up on the kitchen table with her breeches around her ankles while they were supposed to be entertaining their friends for dinner in the other room when the need called for it.


	20. Too Many Perspectives

#26 Too many perspectives (about one Gods-blest thing)

Mithros Minos and Shakith, what was he supposed to do now? How was he even supposed to be around her? He had known her when she was thirteen after all, she had been so young and he had already had so many sins on his hands at that time. She wasn't thirteen anymore though, she was definitely a woman; all grown and with a mature mind of her own, fully capable of making decisions. She was still innocent though, far too innocent and he could trick her into his bed so easily; she wouldn't even see it coming. He was so much older than her after all, that experience gave him an unfair advantage, fourteen years was far too great a gap. Although, come to think of it, there were many marriages, many of them very successful, that had equal or greater age gaps. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair as he poured himself a drink; there were far too many sides to this.


	21. Inevitable

#84 Inevitable

There was always a part of him, a terrified section in the back of his mind, which was waiting for it when she was away from him but nothing could have prepared him for it when it finally came. The day was clear and bright as he sat in his study absorbed in a tome; the only sound that of the turning pages. Then it came; the heart-stopping scream of agony and fury as the animals shrieked their loss.


	22. Bed

#74 Bed

Needless to say he had not been amused the first time he woke up to find their bed filled with porcupines.


	23. Contagious

#94 Contagious

He had been forbidden to stay with her through the fever, they said it was too dangerous, but he had done so anyway. He had to make sure she was okay even if he was risking himself. He barely slept, sitting by her bedside for days on end. She finally woke up and called him an overprotective dolt.


	24. Letters

#2 Letters

They always sent letters when they were apart without fail. Most of the time there wasn't even much to say but the little things that happened during the day but that was fine with them. It did turn out though that when a letter was not of great importance Numair tended to get very sloppy with his writing. She didn't have the heart to tell him that she usually couldn't understand half of what he wrote so she mostly just responded to what she could figure out and wrote 'I love you' a lot so that he wouldn't notice whatever she left out.


	25. Normal

#10 Normal

There were times, especially those of war, in which they both found themselves wishing that they could be normal. Sometimes they longed to be nothing more than simple country-folk with a little home out of the way of things. The truth was, and they both knew it, that it was only because they were both so far from normal that they ever found each other.


	26. Facial Expressions

#18 Facial Expressions

He had always thought that she had the best facial expressions. He'd always been particularly fond of her slightly embarrassed face or the cute little glare she got when she was disgruntled about something. Though since they'd begun to explore the new physical aspects of their relationship he'd found a whole new set of expressions to compete for his favourites.


	27. Nostalgia

#78 Nostalgia

He loved everything about her. Being with her, her smile, her laugh, her voice, her body; everything. He never tired of being with her, she always made him laugh, the sex was fantastic, the conversation stimulating. That night, however, as she cracked the third joke at his expense he found a little part of himself missing how shy she used to be. He had been respected then; well, at least a little bit.


	28. Research

#76 Research

He had to admit that his productivity in the name of the crown had drastically decreased since she had moved into his rooms. On the other hand his productivity in other aspects have been positively spectacular if he said so himself.


	29. The Ultimatum

#73 The Ultimatum

"Numair, you come to this bed and canoodle with me right now or I'll tell Kit to set your favourite breeches on fire. She can do that now you know," Numair smirked; nobody ever said that ultimatums had to be particularly _difficult_ choices.


	30. What's the Worst that can Happen?

#86 "What's the worst that can happen?"

"What's the worst that can happen?" Numair asked, flashing her a roguish smile and she couldn't help the feeling of foreboding that was quickly settled in her stomach. Sure enough, two hours later, they were covered in mud, stranded in the middle of the royal mote, chained together and had a new story that they could never tell their friends.


	31. Things Left Unsaid

#3 Things Left Unsaid

She tried to remember what the last thing she had said to her was. She shoveled the final pile of soil onto the charred heap, one of many, and she tried to remember. Cloud stood to the side, her breathing clashing with unbearable weighing silence. She looked at her hands, no trace of skin visible beneath the blackened earth that consumed them. She suddenly felt much older; she felt as though her skin was stained with the earth of a thousand nations though she had never travelled beyond the neighboring hills. She picked up the shovel once more and tried to remember what the last thing she had said to her mother was.


	32. For the Last Time

#36 For the Last Time

She never told him but sometimes, every once and a while she felt herself terrified when he left her. Sometimes it was when he was leaving on a mission but others it could be just for the week or for the day. He would kiss her goodbye and she would be terrified that it would be for the last time.


	33. Who Am I?

#37 Who Am I?

She had always felt as though a part of her was missing when she didn't know who her father was. She was always the bastard, always incomplete. She thought that if she knew, knew where she came from, that it would somehow complete her. She considered this over dinner with her father and as she looked at her father, all green streaks and antlers, she couldn't help but feel that he hadn't really changed anything. She glanced at her teacher, shifting under the gazes of the gods, and suddenly she knew that she had been complete for years.


	34. Travel

#91 Travel

Traveling got a _lot_ more fun once they were sharing a bedroll.


	35. A Blast From the Past

#92 A Blast From the Past

There were a lot of things that he was worried about when they returned to Carthak for Kalasin's wedding. He had been fretting about and had prepared for numerous disasters and had steeled himself for the worst when it came to their returning. He had not, however, prepared himself for a dinner seated between Daine and Varice.


	36. Progress

#93 Progress

He knew it was wrong, that they could never be together. He knew that he was far too old and that she deserved someone her own age. There were far too many reasons keeping them apart and he could never allow himself to act on his feelings. Despite all of this when he hands her her birthday present and she smiles in that radiant way and kisses him on the cheek and gives him a lingering hug he can't help but feeling as though he's made a little progress. At moments like this he allows himself to think maybe someday, if only for a second he thinks _maybe someday. _


	37. Rediscovery

#83 Rediscovery

They thought they knew everything about each other. Every quirk, every flaw, every scar; there was nothing that was unknown to the other. But, as he laid her down onto his bed for the first time and they slowly shed their defenses in a way it was like meeting each other all over again.


	38. Celebration

#58 Celebration

At pirate's swoop there was a lavish and expensive party going on to celebrate the fifteenth birthday of the Wildmage. The planning had been going on for weeks and Daine had gotten a new dress and slippers for the occasion. This would have been very well and all if it had not been for the freak snowstorm that had trapped her and Numair at his tower for the night. Instead of celebrating in style with all of their friends they were huddled in front of the fire, wrapped in a thick blanket, with Kit. There was a small pile of presents from Numair lying on the ground and a somewhat sad looking cake that Numair had tried to make in order to cheer her up about how the night had gone (there were also scorch marks in the kitchen to prove this). As he gave her a quick hug and whispered happy birthday to her, the wind causing the tower to creak loudly, she couldn't help but thinking that this was the best birthday she had ever had.


	39. Sins

#32 Sins

It was hard to understand why he had fought so hard against his feeling in retrospect. How he could have thought that it was so wrong for them to be together, it just didn't make any sense to him anymore. He blinked in the morning light and rolled over, pulling her close and burying his face against her soft skin. If this was a sin then being virtuous was greatly overrated.


	40. Mythology

#75 Mythology

Sometimes it literally stopped him in his tracks. To him she was Daine, just Daine. She was this woman who made him smile every time he saw her, who bit her nails and still thought that owning three cotton dresses was luxurious. It stopped him dead sometimes when he remembered how powerful she was. That in his arms, snuggled into his chest, was a literal goddess.


	41. New Things

#23 New Things

He smiles at her and pulls her into a half hug before walking from the room. It's a commonplace action between them, something that's happened a thousand times before in the past three years. This time, however, she feels herself blush and her stomach drop a little. There is a moment in which she catches her breath before she shakes her head. The heat must be getting to her.


	42. Weakness

**Hello! It's been over a year, and sadly all I have for you is a brief drabble. If all goes according to plan I should have some new longer pieces up this weekend though...I may hope..**

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#98 Weakness

Sure, it had been fair aggravating in the beginning when he has treated her as if she were made of glass. Nothing but chaste kisses, and soft, modest caresses existed for the first few months of their relationship. She had thought it would take forever for him to stop treating her so delicately, that progress would always be painfully slow. It turned out, however, that all that waiting had paid off for her in the end. All that waiting had only resulted in him finally losing all control; and, now, as he pressed her against the stable wall and hungrily ran his tongue over that weak point on her neck, that amazing point that made her head spin and her knees buckle, she couldn't help but think how _worth_ _it_ it had been.


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